The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Kucinich Calls Health Care Debate Political Theater

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today called the latest in the more than 30 votes so far in this Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act as nothing more than political theater.

See the video here. The full text of Congressman Kucinich's remarks follow.

WASHINGTON

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today called the latest in the more than 30 votes so far in this Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act as nothing more than political theater.

See the video here. The full text of Congressman Kucinich's remarks follow.

"Before the Affordable Care Act was passed, the House and Senate debated it for well over a year. It was debated on the House and Senate floor, in several committees, in the media, in town halls, on the World Wide Web, in living rooms; indeed, it was hard to avoid the debate during that time. The bills received dozens of votes, including committee votes. They passed the House and Senate. The final bill was signed into law. Since then, it has continued to be debated; the House alone has devoted 43 hours of scarce floor time to it.

"Now, it is being implemented and American families are already benefitting from the law. It has been through the courts - all the way to the highest court - and it has been found to be constitutional. It has been upheld.

"Instead of trying to accelerate our economic recovery, the primary concern of American families and businesses, we are spending hours of valuable time on the House floor debating yet again whether to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

"I would be enthusiastically supportive of a debate about whether to continue forward progress by moving toward a single payer system which would provide higher quality health care for everyone in the U.S. without paying a dime more than we are currently paying. That is a debate worth having.

"But the redundant debate of yesterday and today is not about moving forward; it is about moving backward. We can't move forward with our eyes glued to the rear view mirror. This is not governance. This is theater."

Dennis Kucinich is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008.